The following is an excerpt from my book, “We Know,” available on Amazon Kindle.
He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. — 1 John 3:8
Some believe that the devil, who is also called Satan or “that ancient serpent” (Revelation 20:2), is just a figurative expression for the presence of wrongdoing in the world. But the Bible never speaks of the devil as a mirage or an illusion—a figure who moves about in smoke and mirrors.
God’s Word always presents the devil as a real created being—a fallen angel with great power and many disguises (2 Corinthians 11:14). The first time we see the devil is in the Old Testament. He was masquerading as a serpent as he appealed to the prideful nature of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He scored a hit! (Genesis 3:1-14).
The first time we see the devil in the New Testament is in the temptations of Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11). Although Jesus was tempted just like us (Hebrews 2:18), He refused to sin because His love for our heavenly Father was greater than his love for fleshly desires. We can learn from that.
In the early 1970’s, the comedian Flip Wilson played a female character by the name of Geraldine, on his highly popular television show. She always got a laugh every time she tried to justify her misdeeds with the line, “the devil made me do it!” Geraldine, as many people do today, always played the victim who wasn’t really responsible for her actions.
But God’s Word tells us that Jesus “destroyed the devil’s work,” so when we sin we have no excuse. In other words, for those who are in Christ, the devil is powerless. When we resist, as James commands us to do, he will flee (James 4:7). But the enemy of our souls never changes his strategy. Although a defeated foe, he still tempts us in the same areas of our weaknesses. He appeals to our prideful nature.
The devil’s tactics appeals to the same areas that John tells us to avoid in the world: cravings, lusting, and boasting (1 John 2:15-18). If we let him, the devil will continue to lure us through our passions to accomplish and achieve beyond God’s perfect will for our lives. When we yield to sin. let’s remember to repent and ask the Holy Spirit to help us every day as we remember to put on the full armor of God against the “wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11). And He will! — Maranatha!
“God is good all the time. All the time God is good!”
